Northern Colorado Squeaks By Bison, 22-21
GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado defeated North Dakota State, 22-21, in a Western Wrestling Conference dual Sunday, Feb. 12 in front of 309 fans at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion. With the score tied at 21-21 after all ten bouts, the Bears claimed the win by tiebreaker, holding a 6-4 edge in bouts won.
The Bison fall to 6-8 overall and 3-2 in the WWC. The Bears are now 5-5 overall and 2-1 in the WWC, defeating both North Dakota State and South Dakota State today.
Henry Chirino started the home side with a win, defeating Evan Knutson at heavyweight, 4-0. No. 19 125-pounder Trent Sprenkle responded with a pin of Jesse Meis in 4 minutes 13 seconds to give the Bison a 6-3 lead.
The Bears then won the next three in a row to take a 12-6 lead. Sam Bauer shut out Justin Solberg at 133 pounds, 6-0, as Bauer scored all of his points in the second period. At 141 pounds, Casey Cruz won a 5-0 decision over Tyler Diamond on the strength of a first period takedown and a third period reversal. At 149 pounds, Justin Gonzales defeated Mark Erickson, 6-3. Gonzales took a 5-2 lead in the first period and Erickson closed the gap to 5-3 in the second, but Erickson was unable to score any more points down the stretch.
No. 13 Steven Monk snapped the Bears winning streak with a pin of Charlie McMartin in 2:41 at 157 pounds. Monk’s pin tied the match at 12-12.
No. 10 Gabe Burak pinned Joe Garner at 165 pounds in 1:12 to give the Bears the lead back. Tyler Johnson, wrestling up a weight class at 174 pounds, responded with a pin of Josh VanTine in 1:16.
At 184 pounds, Mac Stoll claimed an 8-3 win over Patrick Gomez, scoring three takedowns and an escape in the victory. Nick Bayer tied the match at 21-21 in the final bout of the day, winning a 6-1 decision over John Gusewelle. The Bears claimed the match after winning six of the 10 bouts.
NDSU closes out the regular season against No. 10 Wyoming Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Bison Sports Arena in Fargo.
Northern Colorado 22, North Dakota State 21 (tiebreaker, 6-4)
285 –Henry Chirino (NC) dec. Evan Knutson 4-0
125 –Trent Sprenkle (NDSU) fall Jesse Meis, 4:13
133 –Sam Bauer (NC) dec. Justin Solberg, 6-0
141 –Casey Cruz (NC) dec. Tyler Diamond, 5-0
149 –Justin Gonzales (NC) dec. Mark Erickson, 6-3
157 –Steven Monk (NDSU) fall Charlie Mcmartin, 2:41
165 –Gabe Burak (NC) fall Joseph Gamer, 1:12
174 –Tyler Johnson (NDSU) fall Josh VanTine, 1:16
184 – MacKain Stoll (NDSU) dec. Patrick Gomez, 3-8
197 –Nick Bayer (NC) dec. John Gusewelle, 6-1